WHO WAS MARY MAGDALENE?
Beyond The Da Vinci Code – Part 8
Tonight we’re in part eight of our series Beyond The Da Vinci Code and the question that we’re going to tackle is Who was Mary Magdalene?
I. QUOTES FROM THE CODE
As you know if you’ve read the book, Mary Magdalene is central to Dan Brown’s conspiracy theory. (has her own website: www.belovedDisciple.org)
According to the book, the Holy Grail was never a cup, it was not a chalice that Jesus passed around the table at the Last Supper nor was it the cup that caught the blood of Christ at the Cross as Grail Legend would have it. Instead, according to the Da Vinci Code, the Holy Grail was a person, but not just any person, as Dan Brown notes, the Holy Grail is…
"A woman who carried with her a secret so powerful, that if revealed, it threatened to devastate the very foundation of Christianity!" 239.
Apparently, this woman had a secret that if allowed to get out would be the downfall of Christianity.
Who was this woman you ask and what was her secret?
Well, according to the book, this woman was Mary Magdalene and her secret was that she and Jesus were married and had a daughter by the name of Sarah.
So, the Holy Grail was not a cup that held the blood of Christ, instead it was Mary Magdalene who held the blood of Christ in the form of a baby in her womb.
Now, the book claims that the marriage between Jesus and Mary is "a matter of historical record", and Da Vinci was certainly aware of that fact. The Last Supper [painting] practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and Magdalene were a pair." 244
SHOW PICTURE OF THE LAST SUPPER
Dan Brown is convinced that the person sitting to Jesus’ right is not the Apostle John as we’ve been led to believe and who almost every Art historian believes as well, but in fact Mary Magdalene. But not only that, when you look at the painting, you see that Jesus and Mary have a space between them that forms the shape of a "V".
This "V" shape is an ancient pagan symbol representing the sacred feminine. This sacred feminine is basically the female side of God, but we’ll get to that, in two weeks when we talk about whether or not Christianity borrowed pagan symbols and practices. Oh yea, Dan Brown says that Christianity is not a new religion, it’s just a collection of different pagan religions that were fused together to make what only appeared to be a new religion.
So, in the painting you see this "V" shape as well as another important letter, the letter "M"…do you feel like you’re watching Sesame Street yet?
"Frontline is sponsored tonight by the letter "V" and the letter "M".
Leigh Teabing, a former British Royal Historian and religious historian (216) is one of the main characters in the book and he says to Sophie who is the main woman character:
"’…if you view Jesus and Magdalene as compositional elements rather than as people, you will see another obvious shape leap out at you.’
Sophie saw it at once. To say the letter leapt out at her was an understatement. The letter was suddenly all Sophie could see. Glaring in the center of the painting was the unquestionable outline of an enormous, flawlessly formed letter "M".
’A bit too perfect for coincidence, wouldn’t you say?’ Teabing asked. Sophie was amazed. ’Why is it there?’ Teabing shrugged. ’Conspiracy theorists will tell you it stands for Matrimonio or Mary Magdalene. To be honest, nobody is certain. The only certainty is that the hidden M is no mistake.’" 243-45
The implication of course is that Leonardo Da Vinci knew of the secret marriage and clearly revealed it in his painting of "The Last Supper". (236)
The book also concludes that the proof of their marriage is a "matter of historical record" as well as the fact that Jesus couldn’t have been a bachelor because He was a Jew:
Teabing says: "…the social decorum during that time virtually forbids a Jewish man to be unmarried. According to Jewish custom, celibacy was condemned, and the obligation for a Jewish father was to find a suitable wife for his son. If Jesus were not married, at least one of the Bible’s gospels would have mentioned it and offered some explanation for His unnatural state of bachelorhood." 245
Now the question is what historical records is Teabing referring to that record this marriage of Jesus and Mary? Answer, the documents found at Nag Hammadi that we know as the Gnostic Gospels.
Teabing says that these Nag Hammadi documents are:
"…the earliest Christian records" 245
And that they "do not match up with the gospels in the Bible" 245-246
And then he quotes a passage from the Gospel of Philip:
"And the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, ’why do you love her more than all of us?" 246
Teabing notes that the word "companion" in those days, literally meant "spouse" (246)
Teabing then says: "’I shan’t bore you with the countless references to Jesus and Magdalene’s union. That has been explored ad nauseam by modern historians. I would, however, like to point out the following.’ He motioned to another passage. ’This is from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.’ Sophie had not known a gospel existed in Magdalene’s words. She read the text:
"And Peter said, ’did the Savior really speak with a woman without our
knowledge? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?’ And Levi answered, ’Peter, you have always been hot-tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like an adversary. If the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us.’" 247
Of course it’s Teabing’s contention that Peter is jealous of Mary. In fact, if you look back to the picture of The Last Supper, you can see that Peter has his hands at Mary’s throat.
"But why was Peter so jealous of Mary?" you ask. Good question. Teabing says:
"Jesus suspects He will soon be captured and crucified. So He gives Mary Magdalene instructions on how to carry on His Church after He is gone. As a result, Peter expresses his discontent over playing second fiddle to a woman. I daresay Peter was something of a sexist.’
Sophie was trying to keep up. ’This is Saint Peter. The rock on which Jesus built His Church.’ ’The same [Teabing said], except for one catch. According to these unaltered gospels [the Nag Hammadi Texts/Gnostic Gospels], it was not Peter to whom Christ gave directions which to establish the Church. It was Mary Magdalene.’
Sophie looked at him. ’You’re saying the Christian Church was to be carried on by a woman?’ ’That was the plan. Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of His Church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene."
248
And then finally, Sophie, overwhelmed by all this new revelation exclaims,
"I still don’t understand how all of this makes Mary Magdalene the Holy Grail." 248
To which Teabing responds by pulling out a genealogy showing the Family Tree of the Tribe of Benjamin. The Tribe of Benjamin was one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. I referenced this tribe of Israel in Part 5 of this series in my message entitled: Is Jesus The Messiah?
According to Teabing, Mary Magdalene was from the tribe of Benjamin, which made her a powerful woman. Why did this make her a powerful woman?
Because according to Teabing: "Mary was of royal descent." 248
According to The Da Vinci Code, there are two primary reasons why the Church wanted to cover up Mary and Jesus’ marriage.
1. First because Jesus having sex with his wife would undermine His deity as being sacrilegious.
2. And second, because Jesus was from a Royal bloodline as well, the Tribe of Judah in the line of King David.
Teabing explains:
"It was not Mary Magdalene’s royal blood that concerned the Church so much as it was her consorting with Christ, who also had royal blood. As you know, the Book of Matthew tells us that Jesus was of the House of David. A descendant of King Solomon—King of the Jews. By marrying into the powerful House of Benjamin, Jesus fused two royal bloodlines, creating a potent political union with the potential of making a legitimate claim to the throne and restoring the line of kings as it was under Solomon.’ 249
This royal bloodline was to be carried on by Jesus’ daughter Sarah. The fact that Jesus was a father is as Teabing declares:
"…the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father….A child of Jesus would undermine the critical notion of Christ’s divinity and therefore the Christian Church, which declared itself to sole vessel through which humanity could access the divine and gain entrance to the Kingdom of heaven." 249 & 254
The now Pregnant Mary Magdalene was smuggled into France by Jesus’ uncle Joseph of Arimathea (yes, we saw him last week). Apparently, after Jesus was crucified, they felt that it was too dangerous to keep Mary in Jerusalem, so Joseph got her safely out of town. But make no mistake, Queen Mary and the soon to be born; Princess Sarah should have been the ones in power, not the Catholic Church.
Nonetheless, according to Teabing:
"Christ’s line grew quietly under cover in France until making a bold move in the fifth century, when it intermarried with French royal blood and created a lineage known as the Merovingian bloodline." 257
Now, some of you might wonder, "How in the world do we know all of this historic detail?" Well, Dan Brown tells us that:
"Magdalene’s and Sarah’s lives were scrutinously chronicled by their Jewish protectors. Remember that Magdalene’s child belonged to the lineage of Jewish kings—David and Solomon. For this reason, the Jews in France considered Magdalene sacred royalty and revered her as the progenitor of the royal line of kings. Countless scholars of that era chronicled Mary Magdalene’s days in France, including the birth of Sarah and the subsequent family tree." 255
Okey, dokey then…what does all of this mean? Is there any truth to the claims made by Teabing in the Da Vinci Code? Well, let’s take a look.
II. QUESTIONS FROM THE CODE
As I see it, here are the questions that arise from what I’ve read to you tonight:
1. Who was Mary Magdalene according to the Bible?
2. Was bachelorhood condemned and celibacy forbidden by the Jews during the first century?
3. Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married? And if they were, would that somehow discredit Jesus’ claim of deity? Was the word "companion" synonymous with the word "spouse" during the first Century? And if Mary was married to Jesus, what was her last name? (sorry, I couldn’t resist)
4. Did Jesus Mary intend to establish a new dynasty by uniting their two royal bloodlines?
5. What are the "historical records" and "unaltered gospels" and "earliest Christian records" that Teabing uses to prove his claims?
6. Did Jesus commission Mary to be His sole successor?
7. Was Jesus the first feminist?
8. Did Jesus father a child?
9. Was Joseph of Arimathea Jesus’ uncle?
III. ANSWERS TO THE CODE
1. Who was Mary Magdalene according to the Bible?
The Bible tells us that Mary Magdalene was a follower and friend of Jesus as were many women (see Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:41). Mark 16:9 & Luke 8:2 both tell us that Jesus cast seven demons out of her.
Matthew 27:45 tells us that she was present during Jesus’ trial and sufferings and John tells us that she was at the Crucifixion (John 19:25).
Luke tells us that she watched Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus (Luke 23:56). And after three days, Mary and some other women returned to Jesus’ tomb, found that the stone had been rolled away (John 20:1) and they ran back to tell the disciples (John 20:2) that someone had taken the body.
John also tells us that she was the first person that Jesus appeared to after His resurrection (John 20:15-16) and returned to the disciples confirming the fact that she had seen the risen Lord (John 20:18).
2. Was bachelorhood condemned and celibacy forbidden by the Jews during the first century?
It’s true that marriage was the norm, but nowhere could I find that being a bachelor was condemned or that celibacy was forbidden.
According to The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church:
"Celibacy was foreign to the Hebrew culture….but marriage was not compulsory (enforced, essential or necessary are other synonyms); for some the demands of the kingdom might involve a celibate life."
The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church:
J. D. Douglass, General Editor, 633 & 34.
Paul was a Jew and he was a bachelor. In fact, Paul promoted the celibate life as a gift from God.
"It is good for a man not to marry….I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that."
1 Corinthians 7:1 & 7
Paul also noted that an unmarried person has the ability to focus their time and attention solely on service to the Lord:
"I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interest are divided." 1 Corinthians 7:32-33
Paul basically leaves marriage up to each person as a choice: see 1 Corinthians 7:36-40.
Therefore, I think we can dispel Dan Brown’s theory that Jesus had to be married because it was the customary thing to do. The fact is, Jesus often did things contrary to what the Jews of His day did…He saw many of the rules and regulations of the religious leaders as not from God but as "rules taught by men." (See Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7 & Luke 11:46)
3. Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married? And if they were, would that somehow discredit Jesus’ claim of deity? Was the word "companion" synonymous with the word "spouse" during the first century? And if Mary was married to Jesus, what was her last name? (sorry, I couldn’t resist)
The question of whether or not Jesus was married is an interesting one for sure. I’ve thought about this a lot, I’ve talked to Pastor Lon, Rich and some others and none of us can think of any reason why Jesus’ couldn’t have been married.
Marriage is a holy covenant between a man and a woman, ordained by God in the very beginning. (see Genesis 2:24) The Bible has only the highest view of marriage.
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure."
Hebrews 13:4
Sex in marriage is a Holy thing…there is nothing wrong or sinful in regards to sex. If you doubt me about that, just read Song of Songs in the Old Testament. God created sex and all the pleasure and beauty that go with it in the context of marriage.
For it to be wrong for Jesus to be married and experience sex in marriage would mean that there was something inherently sinful about marriage and sex, which there isn’t.
Now, I don’t think that Jesus was married, but why would it undermine His deity if He was? As my friend Rich said: "What does a married Jesus do for you that a single Jesus doesn’t" He’s got a point.
And in regards to the word "companion" being synonymous with the word "spouse" in the first century is ridiculous.
I couldn’t find a single scenario in all the New Testament or Greek literature to prove Dan’s point. Now, maybe Dan found his etymology from a different Greek word used in the Nag Hammadi texts, I don’t know…I don’t have the Greek copies, only the translations into English. But I find it pretty incredible that in all Greek literature that I do have access to, I couldn’t find one instance where the word "companion" meant "spouse".
And, as far as I can tell, the etymology of the word "spouse" points out that it wasn’t used until the 13th century and that’s a long way away from the first century.
The most common word for "marry" in Greek is "gameo".
The New Testament Greek word for bride or bridegroom are "nymphe" and "nymphios" Bride is "parthenos" and "gyne".
There are three primary Greek words defined as "companion"
"sunekdemos" defined as a fellow traveler.
"koinonos" is defined as companion or a "partaker with you"
"sunergos" is defined as a fellow-worker" or "companion in labor"
Never is "companion" used as "spouse" at least that I could find. If you’re an etymologist, let me know if I’m wrong.
4. Did Jesus and Mary intend to establish a new dynasty by uniting their two royal bloodlines?
This is an easy question to answer for two reasons:
REASON #1:
If Mary was from the Tribe of Benjamin, of which there is no genealogical proof in the Bible, whatsoever…but even if there were, there is only one Tribe of the 12 Tribes of Israel that are of Royal blood: the Tribe of Judah. It’s through the tribe of Judah that the line of David and Solomon come. This is easily seen through the genealogies in both Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-37. The Tribe of Benjamin is not a royal line.
REASON #2:
If Jesus did marry Mary, He would not have done it for political reasons because He did not have a political agenda. He said Himself that His Kingdom was not of this world.
We see this in the dialogue between Jesus and Pilate:
"Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ’Are you the king of the Jews?’ ’Is that your own idea,’ Jesus asked, ’or did others talk to you about me?’ ’Am I a Jew?’ Pilate replied. ’It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?’
Jesus said, ’My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’"
John 18:33-36
5. What are the "historical records", "unaltered gospels" and "earliest Christian records" that Teabing uses to prove his claims?
These of course are the Gnostic Gospels that were found in Nag Hammadi Egypt in 1945. There are 52 texts that were found that included titles such as:
The Gospel of Thomas; The Gospel of Phillip; The Gospel of Truth (the creation account from the Serpents perspective); and The Gospel to the Egyptians. Other texts claim to be written by some of Jesus’ followers: The Secret Book of James, The Apocalypse of Paul, the Letter of Peter to Philip and the Apocalypse of Peter.
Now, the essence of Gnostic teaching is derived from the Greek word "gnosis" which means "knowledge". The Gnostics believed that all matter is evil…the human body, the physical world, anything composed of base matter is bad and functions in essence as a prison for our minds. Gnostics teach that each of us have a divine nature that we have forgotten about and that we come from a place like heaven that we need to get back too. In order to rediscover this divine nature and enter into this heavenly place of pre-existence we must escape the evil confines of physical matter (the body and the world) by means of secret knowledge that reveals our route of escape or salvation.
Gnostics see themselves as the enlightened few who have discovered this secret knowledge and secured their salvation. Another main element of Gnosticism is what they call a Gnostic Redeemer.
Ronald H. Nash in his excellent book: The Gospel and The Greeks explains the Gnostic redeemer myth:
"One basic theme of the myth concerns the heavenly preexistence of human souls prior to their embodied existence in this world. Something happened in that heavenly world of light that caused each human soul to fall from its heavenly home and resulted in the soul’s being imprisoned in its body. But the good god, taking pity on these poor souls, sent to earth a Gnostic Redeemer who imparted a secret knowledge about their former state-a state that people had forgotten-and about how they might return to it. After giving this knowledge, the heavenly figure returned to the world of light."
Ronald H. Nash: The Gospel and the Greeks, 205.
I’ll talk more about Gnosticism in a couple of weeks, but as promised, I want to show you how The Matrix story-line has been influenced by it.
SHOW THE CLIP: THE MATRIX
(CD time code: 25:44-29:32 and then the example of Neo being the Gnostic Redeemer 45:08-46:19)
Chris Seay and Greg Garrett in their book The Gospel Reloaded say:
"The operating myth of The Matrix can be plainly seen here: a small group of initiates (represented primarily in the film by Morpheus and his crew) who have secret knowledge about the history and genesis of the world bring Neo into the fold. They tell him his secret history, explain how evil entered the world (by the pride of man as he creates Artificial Intelligence), and relate to their belief in the One, a redeemer (Neo himself) who will save humankind and destroy the world of the matrix."
Chris Seay and Greg Garrett: The Gospel Reloaded, 43.
Of course, in the Gnostic writings found at Nag Hammadi, there is an alleged Gospel of Mary Magdalene. In this document Mary says that she had a secret vision of Jesus where He gave her knowledge that He had not given the disciples. And of course, Peter being Peter, wants to know what Jesus said to her.
"Peter said to Mary, ’sister, we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of women. Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember—which you know (but) we do not, nor have we heard them."
"The Gospel of Mary Magdalene", The Nag Hammadi Library: James M. Robinson-General Editor, 525.
Then Mary goes on to tell them that she saw the Lord in a vision and that He told her there is no sin but we make sin when we do bad things and that in order to reach the eternal silent rest of the soul (heaven if you will) one must pass through four powers.
The problem of course is that the document is so damaged most of the content is lost and one has to radically speculate as to what it says, there are huge holes in the parchment. Four pages of Mary’s vision are missing so you only have the beginning and the end.
What I find very interesting is that Dan Brown by implication refers to these writings as more genuine than the New Testament manuscripts, unaltered giving the implication that they are completely objective and true, and that they are the "earliest Christian records" even though they were written well after the completed New Testament…I’ll prove that to you in a couple of weeks, but I don’t have time to do it now.
Suffice it to say, the historical documentation that Dan Brown bases Mary’s unique role and marriage with Jesus is on very shaky ground at best.
6. Did Jesus commission Mary to be His sole successor?
Dan Brown says that Jesus commissioned Mary Magdalene to be His successor not Peter.
But in reality, Jesus didn’t choose any ONE person as His successor. Not Peter, not Mary not any ONE person.
Ephesians 2:19-20 is clear:
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."
Ephesians 2:19-20
Peter said himself:
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9
So of course Jesus didn’t choose Mary as His successor, He didn’t choose any ONE person. The apostles plural and prophets plural are aligned with Christ as the cornerstone which provide the foundation of the Church.
7. Was Jesus a feminist?
If by asking that question you mean: "Did Jesus raise the value of women up in the first century", the answer is yes. However feminism as we know it today is largely a political movement to equate the sexes in both value and roles. Jesus would agree with the value part…men and women are equally valuable in the eyes of God, men are not superior nor women inferior or vice versa, but Jesus would not agree with equality in roles. It is clear in God’s economy that men have certain roles and responsibilities that are different from the roles and responsibilities of women. Of course this distinction has been blurred and the issue confused in our society by making value and roles equal which they are not. The personal value of a man and the personal value of a woman are not tied to what they do or what they are responsible for.
But I’ll talk about this more in depth when I do my message on it in a couple of weeks.
Back to the topic at hand. It is clear that Jesus held women in high esteem. He had women as part of his ministry team which we’ve already seen, Mary, Martha and Lazarus were some of Jesus’ closest friends and He would spend a lot of time at their home.
Jesus even spoke to a Samaritan woman alone while she was drawing water from a well. A man in Palestine, especially a man like Jesus whom many believe to be a Rabbi would be committing political suicide by talking to a woman alone even if it was in broad daylight. The disciple’s response when they found Jesus talking to her is enough to prove that.
John notes: "Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman." John4:27
The Greek word translated here as "surprised" I think is an understatement. The Greek word is evqau,mason "ethaumason" which means:
"To be astonished. It denotes incredulous surprise."
The Linguistic Key To The Greek New Testament:
Fritz Rienecker, 227.
In a time where women were considered property and were not even allowed to testify in court and could be divorced by burning their husbands toast, Jesus’ treatment of women would have been extremely unusual.
8. Did Jesus father a child?
I honestly don’t think so because I don’t think He was married. But if He did have a child, it wouldn’t be for the reasons that Dan Brown suggests, that is to father an heir to His Kingdom. Jesus’ purpose was not to establish an earthly kingdom, we’ve already looked at that.
Nor do I believe as Dan Brown suggests that having a child would somehow disprove Jesus claim to deity. If Jesus were married, sex inside of marriage is a Holy and good thing…there is nothing sinful about it.
9. Was Joseph of Arimathea Jesus’ uncle?
The Bible does not say that he was and it would seem odd to not record that if it were true…there would be no reason not too.
Here’s what we know of Joseph of Arimathea:
1. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea (Luke 23:51)
2. He was wealthy (Matthew 27:57)
3. He was a member of Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43)
4. He was expecting the coming Messiah (Mark 15:43)
5. He was a morally good man (Luke 23:50)
6. He stood up for Jesus at His trial before the Sanhedrin (Luke 23:51)
7. He was a disciple of Jesus (John 19:38)
Nowhere do we see him being referred to as Jesus uncle.
Now some of you might be wondering, why in the world is this even relevant. Here’s why, legend has it, according to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia that Joseph of Arimathea took the Holy Grail to England. And being that Dan Brown believes the Holy Grail to be Mary Magdalene, this would fit nicely into his story.
Not really important, just kind of interesting. I’m telling you guys, if a Da Vinci Code Trivia game comes out, you’ll win.
Let’s pray.
This message is part of an 8-week series, “The Truth Behind the Fiction” by Ken Baugh which is available for purchase at www.coasthillschurch.org. The series includes the message transcripts, audio, powerpoint, bibliography and other resources packaged in a binder.
